A data processing system tends to be larger in scale to meet the requirement for improving system processing capacity of the data processing system. For example, a parallel computer system is configured of server units on the order of thousand sets connected in parallel. Similarly, in a large-scale storage system, the system is configured of several hundreds of magnetic disk units (hard disk units). The tendency is also the same in a communication apparatus.
To install such the electronic apparatuses in an integrated manner, a method of mounting a multiplicity of electronic apparatuses in a rack is widely used. On the occurrence of a fault or the like in such the electronic apparatuses, it is necessary that an operator identifies the faulty electronic apparatus from among the multiplicity of electronic apparatuses and restores from the fault or the like, or replaces it.
FIG. 15 is an explanation diagram of the conventional method for identifying the physical location of the rack-mounted electronic apparatus. Here, as an electronic apparatus, the description of a server unit is given as an example. A multiplicity of server units 90 are mounted on a multiplicity of racks 1-n. Here, six (6) sets of the server units 90 are mounted on a single rack, and there are arranged such racks in the number of n (100, for example).
Each server unit 90 is connected to a control server unit 92 to control the entire server units 90, through a control LAN (Local Area Network) 94. The control server unit 92 includes a server location information table 96 which stores an IP (Internet Protocol) address, a host name, a rack number, and a shelf-level number of the rack for each server unit. The table 96 is generated in advance by the input from a system administrator.
When the control server unit 90 is notified an abnormality notification from the server unit 90 through the control LAN 94, the control server unit 90 displays the rack number of the server unit 90 and the shelf-level number of the rack by referring to the table 96 according to the notified IP address. As such, the physical location of the server unit 90 having sent the abnormality notification has conventionally been identified.
However, by the aforementioned method only, it is difficult to identify the server unit at the actual physical (mounting) server unit location.
Therefore, there has been carried out a management method by sticking on each server unit a seal having an individual unit number. Alternatively, there has also been proposed a method of provision of a display panel on the rack and changing the display status of a display lamp on the display panel (for example, refer to Patent document 1).
Further, although it is not the case of server units, with regard to printer units, there has been proposed a method of notifying an abnormality of a unit in the event of the abnormality, by changing the display mode of a light emission device displaying the status of the self-unit (for example, refer to Patent document 2).
[Patent document 1] the official gazette of the Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2004-103053.
[Patent document 2] the official gazette of the Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. Hei-5-188870.